Question

Which of the following is a to criteria to classify drugs?

• A. Chemical structure
• B. Molecular targets
• C. Drug action
• D. All of these.

Answer 1

The correct option is D All of these.

Drugs are chemicals of low molecular masses (100 – 500u). These

interact with macromolecular targets and produce a biological response.

Drugs can be classified mainly on criteria outlined as follows:

(a) On the basis of pharmacological effect

This classification is based on pharmacological effect of the drugs. It

is useful for doctors because it provides them the whole range of

drugs available for the treatment of a particular type of problem. For

example, analgesics have pain killing effect, antiseptics kill or arrest

the growth of microorganisms.

b) On the basis of drug action

It is based on the action of a drug on a particular biochemical process.

For example, all antihistamines inhibit the action of the compound,

histamine which causes inflammation in the body.

(c) On the basis of chemical structure

It is based on the chemical structure of the drug. Drugs classified in this

way share common structural features and often have similar

pharmacological activity.

(d) On the basis of molecular targets

Drugs usually interact with biomolecules such as carbohydrates, lipids,

proteins and nucleic acids. These are called target molecules or drug

targets. Drugs possessing some common structural features may have

the same mechanism of action on targets. The classification based on

molecular targets is the most useful classification for medicinal chemists.

So,option D is the correct answer